Elon 102, Lynchburg 63
ELON, N.C. - Six Phoenix players scored in double figures and Elon drained 16 buckets from downtown as the Phoenix rolled by visiting Lynchburg College 102-63, in non-conference men's basketball action from Alumni Gym on Sunday afternoon. With back-to-back victories, Elon improved to 4-5 on the season as it prepares for a Southern Conference date with Chattanooga next Friday night. Lynchburg dropped to 5-5 overall.
The 16 three-pointers were the most since Elon nailed that many against Chattanooga in January last season. Freshman Jack Isenbarger came off the bench to lead the Phoenix with 15 points on 4-of-6 from long range. Junior Drew Spradlin continued to be sharp from the field, connecting on 5-of-9 field goals for 14 points in 22 minutes of action. Terrance Birdette and Chris Long each chipped in 11 points and the two combined for nine assists. Birdette also grabbed a team-high six rebounds.
Rookie Sebastian Koch netted a personal-best 11 points and Roger Dugas scored all 10 of his points in the second half. Lynchburg's Austin Chillemi was the lone player in double figures for the Hornets with 11 points.
The Phoenix shot above 50 percent from the floor and better than 80 percent from the foul line for the second straight contest. Elon also tallied 23 assists on 36 buckets for the game with 10 players earning an assist.
Elon had the hot hand in the opening stanza, raining eight three-pointers in the first 20 minutes of action. Before the 16-minute mark, the Phoenix made four buckets inside the arc and then only hit four baskets worth two points over the remainder of the half. A Spradlin triple lifted Elon to an 11-4 advantage with 15:39 on the clock. The Hornets closed the gap to 14-13 at the 13:08 mark before Elon used an 8-2 stretch capped by an Isenbarger trey to move ahead, 22-15, at 11:39.
A quick 7-0 run by Lynchburg tied the game at 22 with just over 10 minutes to go. With the score knotted at 27, Spradlin and Long combined for three consecutive long-range baskets and jump-started a 20-5 streak to end the half. The Phoenix took a 47-32 lead into the break.
Eight of Elon's 16 made buckets in the first half came from downtown and the Phoenix racked up 12 assists on those baskets. The home team knocked down 48.5 percent of its shots from the field, including an impressive 8-of-14 (57.1 percent) from beyond the arc. Lynchburg shot 41.2 percent from the floor in the first part of the contest.
It wasn't long before Elon opened up a 20-point advantage, scoring seven of the first nine points of the final period. More daggers from downtown help the Phoenix push the lead to 76-45 with 10:47 remaining. A Lucas Weavil layup capped Elon's biggest lead of the night at 42 points, 102-60, as the clock wound down.
While Elon hit another eight treys in the second half, the Phoenix was much more effective in the paint, scoring 22 points under the basket compared to only eight by the Hornets. Elon also netted 22 points off 15 Lynchburg turnovers, racking up nine steals in the final 20 minutes.
For the game, Elon nailed 36-of-68 (52.9 percent) field goals and 16-of-30 (53.3 percent) three-pointers. Lynchburg connected on 26-of-65 (40 percent) and managed only 7-of-22 (31.8 percent) from beyond the arc. Elon held a 39-32 rebounding advantage.
The Phoenix will prepare for a stretch of three games in six days when it hosts the Chattanooga Mocs on Friday, December 17 at 6 p.m.
Furman 76, Middle Tennessee State 61
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. - Furman shot a season-high 53 percent from the field and led wire-to-wire in a 76-61 victory over Middle Tennessee State on Sunday afternoon at the Murphy Center in Murfreesboro, Tenn.
The win marked Furman's third consecutive triumph and third road win of the season as the Paladins improved to 6-2 overall. The Blue Raiders, who claimed a share of the 2009-10 Sun Belt Conference title, slipped to 3-4.
A 17-3 run in the opening eight minutes of the game helped Furman fashion a 21-6 lead with 11:21 left in the first half and the Paladins never let Middle Tennessee State get closer than 12 points in the first ever meeting between the schools. Jordan Miller and Justin Dehm buried three-pointers during the run and Amu Saaka converted a three-point play at the foul line to key the early run.
The Paladins connected on 16-of-28 (57.1%) first half shots and outrebounded the Blue Raiders 26-9 over the opening 20 minutes to carry a 42-27 advantage into the locker room. Furman finished 26-of-49 from the floor and made 12-of-16 free throws in the second half to secure the victory.
Noah States netted 18 points on 4-for-6 shooting beyond the arc to lead four Paladins in double figures. Seniors Amu Saaka and Jordan Miller scored 14 and 12 points, respectively, while Colin Reddick contributed 10 points and a team-high seven rebounds in just 15 minutes of action. Darryl Evans added nine points and five assists for the Paladins who made 7-of-14 three-point attempts and totaled 28 second-chance points on the strength of 16 offensive rebounds.
Furman managed a 40-28 rebounding edge on the night and outscored the Blue Raiders 24-22 in the paint.
JT Sulton scored a team-high 16 points on 6-of-10 shooting for MTSU, but Furman shutout the forward over the final 20 minutes. James Gallman and Shawn Jones added 13 points apiece for the Blue Raiders who shot just 34.6% (18-52) from the field. Furman held MTSU's leading scorer James Washington to just seven points, all in the second half.
The Paladins wrap up their three-game road trip next Saturday when they travel to face the University of North Florida. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. Furman returns home to host South Carolina on December 22, at Timmons Arena.
Georgetown 89, Appalachian State 60
WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Mountaineers played close with No. 9 Georgetown for the first 20 minutes on Saturday before the Hoyas took over in the second half and cruised to an 89-60 win at the Verizon Center.
Jeremi Booth made his second-straight start for the Apps (3-4) and picked up where he left off against Samford. The senior led Appalachian with 14 points on 5-of-11 shooting with four of the team's six three-pointers. He averages 18.0 points in the last two contests.
Donald Sims scored a season-low six first-half points but overcame the slump to score seven-straight Mountaineer points in the second half and finished with 14 points of his own. Sims was 4-of-14 from the field and was held without a trey for the first time this season. He added five of the squad's nine assists and swiped a career-high six steals in the contest.
Marcus Wright provided a spark off the bench with eight points in 12 minutes with a pair of three-pointers. The junior guard added an assist as well.
The Apps were held to just 27 rebounds in the game, though 13 of them came on the offensive end and led to 12 second-chance points. Andre Williamson led the way with eight rebounds to go along with six points, three assists and Appalachian's lone block.
Jason Clark led the balanced GU attack with 15 points on 6-of-12 shooting. Three other Hoyas reached double figures in the game, including 14 points from Austin Freeman, and 11 each from Hollis Thompson and Nate Lubick.
While he only scored six points, Chris Wright ran the Georgetown offense with precision as he dished out 12 assists in 30 minutes on the court.
Georgetown scored 60 points in the paint compared to 22 for the Mountaineers, who shot just 35.7 percent from the floor. GU shot 72 percent in the second half and was the first team since 2005 to shoot 60 percent from the floor against ASU, as GU was 36-of-60 in the game.
Freshman point guard Mitch Woods started for the Apps but played just 10 minutes before sustaining a hip injury in the first half. He scored two points and added an assist.
Appalachian ends its road trip and returns home to host defending Northeast Conference champion Robert Morris on Saturday, December 18 at 3 p.m.
Ohio State 85, Western Carolina 60
COLUMBUS, Ohio - Second-ranked Ohio State used an 11-0 first half run to break the game's only tie, blitzing Western Carolina in the first half to stay perfect on the season with an 85-60 win over the Catamounts at historic, on-campus St. John Arena.
The Buckeyes (8-0) put five players in double figures including 17 from freshman Jared Sullinger who tallied nine from the free throw line as OSU scored 30 points in the paint and 22 from the charity stripe. Ohio State also forced 20 Catamount turnovers, scoring 20 points off of those miscues in the win.
"We've not been a team with a lot of turnovers this year," opened WCU head coach Larry Hunter during post-game comments with the media. "I think our guys know a lot of (Ohio State's) freshmen class from AAU, and we almost gave them too much respect. We were aggressive on the boards. We have some athletic guys, we're just not big."
He added, "I was pleased with a few things. We had good player movement, good ball movement; we made the extra pass, threw it inside and shot it a little bit better. I was really pleased with our offensive rebounding and that we out-rebounded them by 13 today."
WCU senior Mike Williams led a trio of Catamounts in double figures with a game-high 22 points, also dishing out five assists and making two steals. It was the fourth-time this year that Williams had scored 20-or-more points in game, while also marking the seventh time this year Williams has paced the team in scoring.
Williams was joined in double figures by redshirt freshman Trey Sumler with 12 points and 11 from true freshman Brandon Boggs as WCU's bench outscored Ohio State, 34-to-26. Sam Smithson matched his career-best with six points, while Tawaski King paced the team with a game-high eight rebounds and classmate Preston Ross pulled down seven including three on the offensive end.
Ohio State took advantage of Western Carolina turning the ball over on 11 of its first 18 possessions and finished the first half with a 14-0 advantage in points off turnovers coming on WCU's 14 giveaways. The Buckeyes did not turn the ball over in the first half and led at the break, 42-25.
The Buckeyes led by as many as 35 points in the second half before the Catamounts were able to trim the deficit back to 25 with a Boggs dunk inside the closing seconds to provide the final tally.
Western Carolina continued its strong performance on the boards, outrebounding the taller Buckeyes by 13, 39-to-26, including 14 offensive boards.
Western Carolina will now break for final exams this week, returning to the hardwood next Saturday, Dec. 18 against the Dayton Flyers in Dayton, Ohio.